Shortwave vs OpenAI
AI Productivity pricing comparison · 2026
Shortwave pricing ranges from $0–$100/user/month, while OpenAI ranges from $0–$200/month. Shortwave is typically 76% more affordable, though your actual cost depends on tier and team size.
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Shortwave and OpenAI both operate in the ai productivity category. This page compares their list pricing.
Plan-by-Plan Pricing
| Plan | Shortwave | OpenAI |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free /user/month | Free /user/month |
| Business | $30 /user/month | $8 /user/month |
| Premier | $45 /user/month | $20 /user/month |
| Max | Custom | $200 /user/month |
| Enterprise | Custom | $20 /user/month |
| Enterprise | — | Custom |
Cost at Scale
Total cost of ownership — licenses, implementation, and hidden costs included.
Shortwave
3 scenarios$0/month
Individual Gmail User
Free plan with basic AI summaries, Smart Bundles, and 90-day search (mandatory 'Sent with Shortwave' signature)
$24/month
Business Professional
Business plan billed annually (1 seat with 5-year AI search, personalized writing, and standard AI intelligence)
$36/month
Executive or Sales Leader
Premier plan billed annually (1 seat with advanced AI, unlimited search history, activity feeds, and priority support)
OpenAI
4 scenarios$40
Light API User (10M tokens/month)
$65/month based on GPT-4o pricing at $5/1M input and $15/1M output tokens, assuming 60/40 input/output split
$240/year ($20/month subscription)
ChatGPT Plus Subscriber
$450
Heavy Production API User (100M tokens/month)
$1,200/month depending on input/output ratio, potentially much higher with premium models or features
Market Intelligence
Shortwave
- Median annual cost
- $325
- Based on
- 10 deals
OpenAI
- Median annual cost
- $600
- Based on
- 207 deals